The Gold Tracer 


practical (idide for prospectors a^d fTlii^ers. 


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By Joseph Marion Clark. 


Portland, Or : 

JOUZST T^XjBOT, 

1899. 










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Or 



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Copyrighted by 
JOSEPH H. CLARK, 
April 18. 1890. 



' WOCOi^l«:J> »^€CEIV6D. 



Table of Contents. 

^ ^ ^ 

AFTER I.—A successful prospector or miner. 15 

After the mine has been found. 15 

There is so many that thinks. 15 

Whenever a man prospects a vein. 16 

Whenever a rich piece of float is picked up. 16 

Oftimes miners uncover a vein. 17 

One of the most important things in prospecting 

or mining .. 17 

Auriferous quartz ledges. 18 

I do not suppose there is a metaliferous vein. 18 

It must not be presumed. 19 

Comtsock lode. 19 

Mines I speak of. 19 

There is no wonder so many make a failure. 20 

Prospect ore body. 20 

Always be careful in extracting the ore. 20 

Never imagine if the ore assays. 20-21 

The surface ground should be prospected. 21 

Let me say here and now. 21 

I have not written this book. 22 

Follow my instructions to the letter. 22 

Mines are not found in certain parts.. 22 

And those that condemn this. 23 

AFTER II—Ore bodies . 24 

All ore bodies have other veins. 24 

These feeders are oftimes. 24 

Parallel vein and feeders. 24 

Where there are several seams found. 25 

Whenever the vein is in sight. . 25 

Trace of gold found in one or mqre of these feeders. 25 





























I 

I 

— 4 — 

Pockets only differ in a few respects. 

There is always a trace of gold. 

Pockets most always occur. 

Like the ore bodies. 

These bodies of ore is found. . 

This shows the fallacy of. 

}t is a well know fact... 

CHAPTER III—Placer gold. 

Quartz gold erastered out. 

Coarse gold is hardly ever seen. 

Base ore and other fine gold veins. 

The gold found in bars. 

In hundreds of instances. 

The placer miners in following. 30 

This the prospector should understand. 

The idea of wash gravel or no gold. 

Placer gold is found anywhere as. 

Whenever the gold cannot De found. 

Snake river is worked. 

Conner Creek coarse gold . 

This fine gold that is. 

And another thing that will go to show that . 

Then again you will find that. 

Mr. Charles A. Bramble . 

Where this gold comes from is an open question.... 

In regards to the prospector gropeing in the dark .. 

Placer gold traced back to. 

Mineralogists say that. 

CHAPTER IV—How to pan. 

Always keep the gold covered with. 

CHAPTER V—Tracing. 

And by taking a panful of this. ... 

The prospector equipped with . 

Out of each one of. 

Sink these holes at short intervals along. 

After the surface has been. 

Or if there was more than one. 


26 

26 

26 

27 

27 

27 

27 

29 

29 

29 

30 

30 

30 

•-31 

31 

31 

31 

31 

32 

32 

32 

33 

33 

34 

34 

35 

35 

35 

37 

39 

40 

40 

40 

41 

41 

4T 

42 








































— 5 — 

Pains should be taken so as. 42 

Denote the quantity of gold in. 42 

After gold has. 43 

Any gold found. 43 

Traces of gold will be... 44 

It is a good plan to. 44 

The diflerence in the finess of. 45 

Shades and smoothness of the gold. 46 

The distance the gold has traveled . 45 

The roughness of the particles of gold. 46 

When the veins are close by the. 46 

By panning the loose earth matter close around and 46 

Three post holes can. 47 

When prospecting for a trace the prospector should . 47 

Job once said that. 47 

Gold is often washed down from. 47 

Gold can only be found a short. 48 

Auriferous float rock is. . 48 

Trace of gold in the vein should. 48 

While tracing if the prospector should . 49 

At any time in tracing. 49 

The amount not found in. 49 

After the vein has been uncovered. 49 

CHAPTER VI—To uncover hidden veins. 51 

When the veins are so situated on. 51 

He would be led from one to the other. 51 

Shades of gold. 52 

Gold found to be dark or copper colored will. 52 

And at this point the. 52 

There is yet another gold. 53 

Very fine white gold. 53 

About the only way a new beginner can. 53 

Before being able to judge by. 53 

Although there is no necessity of. 54 

If we were trailing.'. 54 

Denote the change carefully. 54 




































— 6 — 

Pockets, shoots, chimneys, bonanzas or ore bodies 

have streaks of. 55 

Sometimes fragments of quartz are. 55 

Marshall discovered gold in California. 55 

In nearly every case placer has. 56 

Most of the rich auriferous lodes have. 56 

CHAPTER VII—Post holes. 57 

A sample is . 58 

Sample sacks. 58 

CHAPTER VIII—Misled. 60 

Always use a smooth bottom pan. 60 

Will be salted. 60 

CHAPTER IX—Gold. 64 

Combination of gold with oxides and sulphides. 64 

Sulphides of gold. 65 

Chloride of gold . 65 

Crystals of gold found. 65 

Pure gold is. 65 

Gold is being found in. 65 

Gold in sea water. 65 

Quartz has been called the. 65 

Quartz. 65 

Iron. 66 

Crystalization. 66 

Besides the debries covers . 67 

There is so many veins which. 67 

Often mines are worked. 68 

The Quartz we find in fissures... 69 

Free gold specimens. 70 

CHAPTER X—Test of ores. 72 

Gold test. 72 

Test for silver. .. . 74 

If there should be copper. 75 

After silver and copper has. 75 

Copper . 75 

Platinum. 76 

Nickle. 76 






































— 7 — 


The blow pipe . 77 

Gold in pyrites. 77 

Chlorination. 78 

A handy outfit. 79 

Greasy. 79 

Value of metals.7980-81 

Value of gold per ounces at different degrees of 

fineness. 82 

Gold value. 82 

Composition of minerals.82 83-84 

Gold alloys. 84 

CHAPTER XI—A history of quartz mining. 85 

The fiist quartz miners in California. 85 

Their success excited. 85 


















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PREFACE. 


S there have been so many men wanting to 
^ ^learn my system of prospecting for preC' 
ions metals, even wanting to travel along with me 
to see the work done, in order to learn, and as it 
would be impossible for me to teach or even show 
so many in this way and do justice to each and 
ever>' one, or even to myself, but still being willing 
to show them, having no secret in this System of 
Prospecting which would be a benefit to man, that 
I would not freely give and as this is one of the 
greatest, as well as the simplest, cheapest and only 
scientific way to prospect, I have taken the follow¬ 
ing plan, which will be in the reach of all, and in the 
following pages I have presented to the reader 
such a view of the whole subject of prospecting for 
the precious metals that any reader will compre¬ 
hend my meaning. 


lO 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


Heretofore mines were merely found by chance, 
no skill guided the finder, merely stumbling upon 
his luck. But how many prospectors are there 
that never had that good luck, or is good luck al¬ 
ways with any man? If it was there would be no 
need of prospecting after mines, but unfortunately 
this is no't the case, and only by some scientific 
method can each and every one become successful 
at prospecting, and it is this scientific method I 
want to lay down before the reader. 

Two of our greatest industries seem to be pros¬ 
pecting and mining. Erom these industries the 
precious metals are found and mined, which after¬ 
wards are coined into money that circulates through 
every channel of trade, and without the prospector 
there would be no mining. We would yet be in 
the stone age. The prospector is not appreciated 
at anything like his real worth, every effort should 
be exercised to enlighten him in his search and by 
his fellowmen he should be encouraged on his way. 
Prospecting is as great now as it was in days gone 
by. Old mines will exhaust in time, so if it was not 
for the new ones that are being found every year 
mining would be soon a thing of the past, and on 
account of the great hidden wealth of the United 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


II 


States makes this art a very desirable acquirement 
for everyone engaged in any business connected 
with the metals. 

As there is no work in the English language 
that would help the prospector in the field makes 
this work the, greatest ever written for prospectors 
and miners. My object is to offer a book which 
will fully explain a new system of prospecting, 
which guides the prospector in his search. 

Prospecting, at last, has become a science. This 
has been proven beyond a doubt by the writer, by 
actual experience in the field. As the laws of the 
distribution of the precious metals in the veins 
are all the same, it would be useless for me to men¬ 
tion them all here, so I will only treat upon one of 
these metals—Gold, and the reader should remem¬ 
ber that while he is studying this one metal, gold, 
that he is learning the laws of distribution of all 
metals, for I do not believe that there is any dif¬ 
ference between them, and with the help of this 
little book any man can become an expert prospec¬ 
tor in a few days, and it will enable him to find 
mines and test their values in one day’s work in 
the field. 

It is small and simple, but how many little things 


12 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


have turned out to be great? And for the benefit 
of the uneducated as well as the educated the 
writer has endeavored to make it plain. No dic¬ 
tionary needed, no long studies to commit to mem¬ 
ory, simply keep this book close at hand and it 
will guide you as to where, and how to find the 
precious metals. Never imagine that you can study 
this book awhile and then prospect without it, 
for you will find that you will be lost in the field, 
and that the things thought to be of the least con¬ 
sequence, will be of the greatest importance. 

Some, men may think that there is too many 
prospectors already in the field, and no place left 
for them. This is a mistake, for the United States 
alone promises the richest and most famous reg¬ 
ions in the world, and from eyery direction comes 
the assurance that there is, commonly speaking, 
no end to the possibilities. But prospecting has 
hardly begun, the surface ground is scarcely brok¬ 
en. Thousands on thousands of square miles are 
yet to be explored, thousands of mines are yet to 
be found, whole regions are rich beyond all compu¬ 
tation, and there is not in all the, world to day a 
field of more gloriously golden opportunities for 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


13 


the intelligent and enterprising prospector and 
miner. 

No need to go to the Klondyke or the Yukon, 
or even to Alaska. Fortunes without danger or 
hardship are here for thousands yet to come, and 
this book is written to guide the prospector and 
miner, and will be a safe guide to follow in any 
part of the world. A cheap, simple, quick, handy 
and accurate method to follow in prospecting, it 
is this system of prospecting I want to lay before 
the reader. A system that I have studied out and 
by actual experience in the gold fields, I have prov¬ 
ed this system of prospecting to. be the only safe 
guide to follow. 

Simple, because the hills and mountain sides 
are tested for the ore bodies hf simply panning a 
few panfulls of the loose earth-matter. Quick, be¬ 
cause it only takes a short time to dig these small 
post holes and pan the samples, which are taken 
from each post hole, dug. Cheap because he is un¬ 
der no expense to speak of, a pick, pan and shovel, 
a few sample sacks and a small bill of provisions, 
being sufficient to enable him to test miles of the 
gold belts for hidden veins. This is not the only 
reason why it is cheap. It saves the time, work 


14 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


and money that it takes to dig holes or shafts and 
run cuts and tunnels which takes years of hard 
work and hundreds of dollars and after all this 
time and money spent, the prospector is still left 
in ignorance. He cannot see one inch further than 
he has tested with his holes, shafts, cuts or tunnels. 
He may tramp over the hills and mountains for 
3 'ears, and yet he. cannot see the hidden veins. 
Luck or chance can be his only show in this way 
of prospecting, and as good luck heretofore has 
only favored a few, this goes to show that we need 
some scientific system to follow. This method is 
accurate, because when anything has been scienti¬ 
fically tested we know what it contains, and when 
we test the loose earth-matter for auriferous veins 
then we will know whether they lay hidden there 
or not, and if the test proves that there is a body of 
ore there. The prospector can readily locate the 
exact spot, no matter at what depth it may be hur¬ 
ried from sight, by the loose earth-matter. After 
the traces of gold has been found it only takes a 
few pans more of this loose earth-matter to bring 
the prospector to its source. 


CHAPTER L 


How to Become a Successful Prospector or Miner. 



SUCCESSFUL man at any trade is the man 


^ w that has the knowledge of the object 
in view, and in prospecting after metals, 
if the prospector will acquaint himself with 
the laws of the distribution of the prec¬ 
ious metals in the veins, and with the Sys¬ 
tem of Prospecting for Veins, which the writer has 
endeavored to make plain to the readers, there will 
be nothing between him and success. 

And, after the mine has been found, the miner 
can readily tell whether it is a pocket, shoot or 
body of ore, and if large or small. He will be able 
to extract the rich rock from the poor with success. 
There are many that think that an ore body, that 
is, shoots, chimneys and bonanzas of ore are veins 
or lodes of quartz extending through the country, 
metalliferous throughout its entire length, but this 




i6 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


is a mistake which they will have, to learn before 
they will ever make successful prospectors or min¬ 
ers. Whenever a man prospects a vein or lode in 
one spot, either by chipping pieces off from the 
croppings or by sinking a shaft or by cutting it 
with a tunnel, he will never know wffat the vein 
contains and will get discouraged and leave, think¬ 
ing that there is nothing there, when he. may be 
leaving a fortune behind him, which has been so 
often done before. And the miner that imagines 
that his vein is equally as rich throughout its .en¬ 
tire length will extract the poor ore as well as the 
rich, mixing it all together, and when his ore is 
sampled or milled he will think his mine too poor 
to work. There has be.en thousands of feet of tun¬ 
nel run, thousands of feet of shaft sunk, time and 
money spent and nothing gained. Whenever a 
rich piece of float is picked up which is so often 
done, the finder will imagine, there is a vein of ore, 
equally as rich throughout its entire length, and 
will expect to find this rich rock at any spot along 
this vein. So he prospects for this vein, and not the 
rich spots on the vein. When he finds a vein and 
it is not rich he, thinks that this is not the right 
one, for it isn’t as rich, so he keeps on running cuts 



THE GOLD TRACER. 


17 


or tunnels, sinking holes or shafts until he gives it 
up that he cannot find the right one. Now if he 
had known that this rich piece of float was from 
some small shoot on the vein he would save time 
and money, for if a man knows what he is looking- 
for his work is easier accomplished. As a rule the 
richer, the rock, the smaller the bodies, although 
we have rich ore bodies with thousands of tons 
still we have veins with only a handfull^ of ore. 

Oft times miners uncover a vein with a tunnel, 
or shaft, or a small hole in the ground, and test the 
vein in this spot. If it is poor, or low grade, the 
most of prospectors will throw it up, thinking that 
the whole vein is the same, while others may think 
that’ depth is all that is needed to strike rich ores. 
This way of prospecting and mining is what causes 
lots of work and poor pay, and the reason com¬ 
panies fail, camps go down, and the mines are con¬ 
demned. 

One of the most important things in prospect¬ 
ing or mining is to thoroughly understand the 
meaning of a pocket, chimney, bonanza, shoots of 
ore, or a body of ore, they all meaning a certain 
portion of the vein which is the metaliferous por¬ 
tion of the vein, the balance of the vein being bar- 


8 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


ren or unproductive, (see cuts, Figures 3 , 20 , 7 and 
8 ). Auriferous quartz ledges have paying quan¬ 
tities of metal only in spots or streaks; the 
quartz may be traced for miles, but only 
here and and there will it pay to work. 
No Metalliferous lode is worked, I believe, with 
much profit, for any great length. The great 
quartz lode of Mariposa, called sometimes the 
mother lode of California, has been traced, it is 
supposed, for thirty miles or more. At least crop¬ 
pings of quartz nearly in a straight line are seen at 
various points between Bear Valley, in Mariposa 
County, and Angels, in Calaveras County, and it 
is assumed that these croppings belong to the 
same lode. In some places this vein is very rich, 
but the rich spots are not long, and are far apart, 
and between these spots the rock is nearly or en¬ 
tirely barren. 

I do not suppose there is a metalliferous vein in 
the world that is equally rich for any considerable 
distance, either up and down, or lengthwise. The 
ore-shoots of this coast exist in bunches and 
streaks, which cut the axis of the vein at every 
conceivable angle, and these are always less than 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


19 


the length of the vein itself, and sometimes less 
than its width also. 

It must not be presumed that these great veins 
are gold-bearing throughout their whole course, 
or that even a notable proportion of the quartz that 
can be found is metaliferous. It is only here and 
there, at wide intervals, that mines can be found 
which can be worked with a profit, in fact, the ex¬ 
tensions of these veins is generally very limited, 
and the metaliferous portion is always considerably 
less in length than that of the quartz itself. Like 
the great Comstock lode of Nevada, and other 
metal bearing veins, it is found that the most of 
the gang or vein stones is still more abundant in 
certain portions thereof, called bonanzas, or chim¬ 
neys, while they usually have a pitch lengthwise of 
the lode, according to their position, ofttimes run¬ 
ning out of one claim into that of another, leaving 
the one comparatively poor, and enriching the 
other. 

These mines I speak of are not prospects, but 
noted mines, and mines that have produced large¬ 
ly. These are facts that none can deny. Then 
what is the use of prospecting at any one spot on a 
ledge, and then leave it for someone else to find 


20 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


good ore just a little to one side from the place 
that you had prospected, and what is the use of 
driving a tunnel until you know what portion of 
the ledge you are going to reach, or know whether 
there is a shoot of ore in a mile of you, or know 
whether the shoot is six inches long or longer? 

There is no wonder that so many make a failure 
in mining when they will take such great chances. 
If a miner wants to make a success at mining the 
first thing to do is to find his ore-bodies on the sur¬ 
face by prospecting the vein on top, which can be 
easily done in a short time, and at a very small ex¬ 
pense. Second, prospect this ore-body with a 
shaft until he is confident that it extends down, 
and see if there is sufficient ore, either in width, or 
lengthwise of the vein, or in richness to pay for 
further developement or not. Third, never 
run a shallow tunnel, for they are useless, 
and only time and money lost in running 
them . Fourth, always be careful in extract¬ 
ing the ore, never mix it up with a lot oi 
valueless rock, for this will reduce the val¬ 
ue of the, ore and only put you to a greater ex¬ 
pense, besides the percentage that is always lost in 
treating the ore will be greater. Fifth, never im- 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


2 I 

agine if one, piece of ore assays one hundred dollars 
to the ton that all of the vein will assay the same 
throughout its whole length or up and down, or 
even in width, until you have taken samples, and at 
short intervals and had them assayed, across its 
width, as well as its length, and up and down. This 
will show the. rich spots, as well as the poor ones 
in the vein. 

The surface ground should be prospected around 
every mine, old ones as well as the new ones. It 
matters not whether they have been rich or poor, 
the chances are that the largest and richest bodies 
of ore have not been found, or there may be several 
shoots of ore on the same vein, or in other hidden 
veins equally as rich or richer. The miners may be 
working or have been working upon some small 
seam or feeder, or some vein comparatively low- 
grade compared to the other veins that may be 
found close bv. I have found this to be the case in 
nearly every camp that I have visited; and it will be 
found to be the case by any one that will follow 
my instructions. And let me say here and now. 
that if any part of my method or instructions is left 
out by any one, they should depart from the whole 
system, leave it for some one else to follow who 


22 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


will lay aside all prejudice. Often our prejudices 
are unreasonable. Some are accustomed to be¬ 
lieve imagination, or to receive opinions from 
others without examining the ground by which 
they can be supported. 

I have not written this book to please anyone’s 
belief, or to condemn anyone’s belief, nor to make 
it appear as though I knew it all, or that I discov¬ 
ered this method all by myself, for it is the mining 
experience of the age that has caused me to fall in 
the rut which I follow in prospecting or mining. 
And I suffer not any study to prejudice my mind 
so far as to despise all other learning, and the man 
that does is lost, never to be found again. Follow 
my instructions to a letter, or this book will be 
worthless to you, and all I ask of any one that is 
fortunate enough to own one of these books is to 
give it a fair trial, laying aside all other methods 
and signs, or imaginations, and follow my plan, and 
I know that he will profit by the experiment. That 
mines are not found in certain parts of a country 
does not condemn this method of prospecting. It 
only shows that there is no mines in that part of 
the country, and the prospector will have to go to 
some other mineral belt to operate in, in order to 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


23 


find valuable mines. And those that condem this 
system of prospecting now, will be sorry in the 
end, for they will see that others have profited by 
their mistakes. 


CHAPTER IT 


Ore Bodies. 

© RE bodies, ore shoots, bonanzas and chimneys, 
are one and the same thing-, the only 
difference being in the size and richness of the ore 
body. When the ore body or shoot is mineral- 
burnt, it is most generally called a chimney, for it 
has a smoky appearance, and when the metallifer- 
ons portion of the vein is short it is most generally 
called a shoot. 

All ore bodies have other veins, which intersect 
the main vein and form the ore body. These veins 
or seams are called feeders, most generally these 
feeders are quartz veins, and can be realily seen, 
but sometimes they are clay or iron seams, and very 
hard to discern, and are oftentimes overlooked 
These feeders are often found to be metaliferous in 
spots or streaks, in cases where there is a parallel 
vein, and feeders have a direction so as to intersect 
this second vein, they will form another body of 




THE GOLD TRACER. 


ore, at the intersection (see cut Fig. i), sometimes 
these feeders are small, and only extend a short dis¬ 
tance back into the, wall (see cut Fig. 4), from this 
main vein; in this case they hardly ever contain 
any gold. 

Where there is several seams found in the same 
strata, dike or gang, they will be found together 
at some point either in depth, or lengthwise of the 
vein, (see cuts Fig. 5 and 2), which usually forms a 
large body of ore, especially if the seams are metal¬ 
liferous themselves. These feeders intersect the 
main vein at all angles, and the straighter the angle 
of intersection these feeders have to the main vein 
the shorter the shoot of ore will be found. (See 
cuts, Figures 7 and 8). Still in some rare cases it 
may differ in some respect from this rule, but most 
always the richest ore is found at the intersection. 

Whenever the vein is in sight, either along the 
surface or has been followed with a tunnel, the 
prospector or miner can readily tell every ore bodv 
and the richest spots in the ore body by the feed¬ 
ers. When the feeders form an ore, body, which is 
often the case, there will always be a trace of gold 
found in one or more of these feeders, which will 
lead the miner down to the ore body if he will only 


26 


TflE GOLD TRACER. 


follow it down, but I do not think there is any one 
that can tell what depth the miner will hav.e to go 
to reach this ore body, some being found in a few 
feet from the surface, while others have been found 
at a great depth. Still an idea can be formed by 
the width between the feeders and their dip toward 
each other. 

Pockets only differ in a few respects from other 
auriferous bodies, and the greatest one of these is 
in the richness of the ore body, no matter how 
small or large; they are always very rich, and have 
been found nearly solid meteal, but like all other 
ore bodies, many small ones are found to one large 
one. The gold is hardly ever found in the quartz, 
or vein stone, when the pocket is reached. 

There is always a trace of gold in the loose 
earth below a pocket, and from one pocket to an¬ 
other, as the vein is followed downward, (see cut. 
Figure 20), but most always the trace from one 
pocket to another will be found between the vein 
stone and its wall, and most always the first gold 
seen on the quartz will be plastered on the side next 
to the wall, and this is a very good sign that the 
pocket is not far ahe*ad. 

Pockets most always occur in the bends or de- 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


27 


fault in the vein, (see cuts, Figures 7, 8 and 10), 
and at places where the vein has been cut of by 
either other veins or seams, and different forma¬ 
tions, or sometimes the cleavage in the same for¬ 
mation (see cuts Figure 7—E E Cleavage), and 
like the ore bodies they always have feeders which 
intersect the main vein at the pocket, or there be¬ 
ing a number of veins or seams coming together, 
which forms the body. Pockets like all ore bodies, 
usually have a pitch lengthwise of the lode, accord¬ 
ing to their position, (see cut Figure 20). These 
bodies of ore are found in all formations, that is 
all kinds of rocks contain valuable mines and pock¬ 
ets, except the volcanic rocks. 

This shows the fallacy of the notion that some 
particular rock is in all cases more favorable to find 
mines in than others. 

It is a well known fact that the enclosing rock 
has usually great influence on the quantity and 
quality of the ores, and that a rich body passing 
into a different formation frequently becomes poor 
or barren, but after passing through this formation 
into that of another it most always becomes pro¬ 
ductive again. (See cut, Figure 9). The aurifer- 




28 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


oils portion being as liable to occure in one as 
the other. 


CHAPTER III. 


Placer Gold. 


T is a mystery to some where placer gold came 



from, but all placer gold has originally been 
confined in rocky veins, and these veins, crumbling 
off, decomposing, sliding, rolling, washing, and 
grinding, freeing the gold by this process, that it 
has gone through for centuries to become gathered 
into canyons, and streams, there to be concentrated 
into deposits , and by rights it is quartz gold, eras- 
tered out in reaching the bars, where it is found; 
this will be plainly seen by any one that will travel 
around and look for himself. 

Coarse gold is hardly ever seen but what there is 
more or less quartz through it, and there isn’t hard¬ 
ly a day but what some placer miner finds a piece 
of quartz with gold still scattered through it, not 
being groken up to free the gold. If this was not 
the case we would have no placer mines, nor would 
the valleys, stream beds and low places be filled with 




30 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


sand and gravel, which shows that it took immense 
quantities of rock to fill these low places with 
this ground-up mass, in places thousands of feet 
deep. The water in these streams, from the small¬ 
est to the largest, is driving this mass, more or less, 
every year towards the ocean or low spots. 

Base ores and other fine gold veins never make 
rich placer ground, the gold being so fine that it is 
hardly ever seen after leaving the veins, only on 
large streams and beaches along the ocean, deposit¬ 
ing in the short bends of the rivers, ofttimes with 
only quicksand for its bed. But veins carrying 
coarse gold, which is most generally called pocket 
veins, are what feed the gold in the placer mines. 

The gold found in the bars, in streams far from 
the mountains, having been carried a long dis¬ 
tance, is in flat scales or small smooth particles, as 
though it had been ground fine and polished by 
long attrition; but in small gullies and streams 
in the mountains, the gold is usually coarse and 
rough, as if it had suffered little change after be¬ 
ing freed from the quartz by which it was once sur¬ 
rounded. In hundreds of instances the gold in 
gullies is being traced unmistakably to an aurifer¬ 
ous quartz lode in the hillside above it. The plac- 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


31 


er miners in following streaks of loose gold have 
been brought to the rocky source from which it 
came, (see cuts Figures 12 and 22). This the pros¬ 
pector should understand, which would give him 
an idea where to search for the vein. The men 
that have this idea in view are busy at work in their 
search for pockets and ore, bodies, and hardly a day 
passes but what veins are being uncovered by the 
prospector. 

The idea of washed gravel or no gold is another 
thing that has been proved a wrong idea, for gold 
is found where there is only slide rock, being in 
gullies where living streams never run to wear the 
rocks smooth. Placer gold is found anywhere as 
long as the veins are above it that carries the gold 
to feed the bars, but is most always found in gul¬ 
lies or streams, these places being natural ground 
sluices, gathering the gold in their beds, and the 
gold gives out in these gullies or streams whenever 
they extend above the veins that carries the gold. 
Whenever the gold cannot be found any farther up 
the, stream or gulley it is quite evident that the 
veins are close by, unless there has been an ancient 
stream, and the other has cut through it, redepos¬ 
iting the gold from the old bed to the new. This 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


32 

can always be told by the smoothness of the gold, 
and washed pebbles that will always be found in 
the older bed of gravel. 

Snake River is worked here and there for nearly 
her whole length, being about 600 or 700 miles 
long, still there hasn’t been any coarse gold found, 
until she cut through the mineral belt at what is 
known as Conner Creek. Here coarse gold is being 
mined out. Places have been found very rich. 
There has been hundreds of thousands of dollars ta¬ 
ken out along in the bars of this river, at this place, 
which is only 15 or 16 miles in length from the low¬ 
er end to the upper end of this coarse gold, and this 
place is about 400 miRs from the head of the 
stream. 

This fine gold that is being found all along this 
river nearly the distance of 300 miles above the 
coarse gold, has come from base or fine gold veins 
some place, or different places, along its course, 
probably brought in by different streams at diff¬ 
erent places, as these rich spots only occur here 
and there, at wide intervals. As one travels down 
the river the first place worked with any profit is 
at Blackfoot, Idaho. The next place at Bonanza 
Bar, at the mouth of Rock Creek. The next at Sal- 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


33 


mon Falls, the next at Catherine Creek, then the 
Cove, and at Warm Springs, and then the mouth 
of Boise River, and gold is found here and there 
all the way down to the mouth of the river. 

Another thing that will go to show that placer 
gold comes from quartz veins is taking the fineness 
of the gold in these many places, and see the differ¬ 
ence in the fineness of the gold at different points. 

Below this coarse gold district the gold varies 
from $16.00 to $17.30 per ounce. In following up 
the stream the first place that coarse gold is 
found goes from $18.00 to $18.40 per ounce. At 
the upper part of this coarse gold it will go from 
$18.80 up to $20.00 per ounce. After leaving the 
coarse gold, (going up stream) this fine gold differs 
in its value also. Below the mouth of Boise River 
$16.00 and $17.00 per ounce. A short distance 
above from $18.40 to $19.30 and $19.50 per ounce. 
At Salmon Falls, going from $19.25 to over $20.00 
per ounce, and along up by Blackfoot it comes 
down to $17.00 and $18.40 per ounce. 

Then again you will find that where there are 
several different streams heading in the same 
mountains that the fineness of the gold will differ 
in each stream, where the stream gathers the gold 


34 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


from the different positions of the vein, or fed from 
different veins, as it is found around Canyon City, 
Oregon, at Pine Creek gold is worth, $16.00 per 
ounce, Marysville gold $17.30 per ounce. Canyon 
Creek $18.00 and better per ounce. Burnt River 
has three places along her banks that gold is found 
in paying quantities, and these places are at wide 
intervals, and between these places there is no gold 
to be found that would pay. This shows that 
where there are no gold bearing veins there is no, 
placer gold. This is found to be the case in nearly 
every mining camp in the United States. 

Mr. Charles A. Bramble, D. L. S., late of the edi¬ 
torial staff of the Engineering and Mining Journal, 
and formerly a Crown Lands and mineral surveyor 
for the Dominion of Canada, in speaking of the 
placer gold, says: “Where this gold comes from is 
an open question. Geologists, mineralogists and 
chemists, mining engineers and practical prospec¬ 
tors, have all disputed over the source of this gold 
already found, and he says could it be known with 
certainty how and under what conditions this gold 
got where it is found, that the problem of seeking 
for it might be made easier, but unfortunately this 
is not the case, and that all prospecting for the 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


35 


home of the precious metal is groping in the dark.’' 
In regard to the prospectors groping in the dark 
I will venture to say it is at an end, and that the 
happy light of knowledge will hereafter guide him 
in his search for the home of the precious metal, 
and when they see the trail of placer gold traced 
back to the rocky sources from which it came, will 
settle this question between them for all time to 
come. And in this little volume the problem of 
seeking for it, I trust, is made quite plain to the 
reader. Mineralogists say that discoveries of many 
deposits have been successfully mined were the re¬ 
sults of chance, no skill guiding the finder; that he 
merely stumbled upon his luck. This is true here¬ 
tofore. Mines were more accidentally found than 
by any scientific guidance, but— 

Darkest nights must have a dawning, though the 
skies be overcast; 

Longest lanes will have ^ turning, and the tide has 
turned at last. 


I 


























CHAPTER IV. 


How to Pan. 




S I have given a brief sketch as to where 
gold may be, found, I will now turn to the 
more important part of the study, as how to find it, 
and here I want to call the reader’s attention to- 
the mining pan, which will soon become one of the 
greatest as well as the most needed tool in his use 


in this system of prospecting and for the benefit of 
of those that have never used the mining pan I will 
give them some idea how it is used, which will be 
a great help to a new beginner. 

The miner fills his pan with whatever he may 
want to test for gold, goes to the bank of a stream, 
scpiats down, as shown in cut, (Figure 23), puts the 
])an under water, then with his hands he mashes u]) 
the lumps and washes off the largest stones and 
picks them out. When all of the dirt is dissolved 
so the gold can be carried to the bottom of the pan 
by its weight, then he shakes the, pan in order to 





38 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


settle the gold, giving it a half round motion, and 
with a slight jerk towards him, enough to stir the 
dirt well without slopping over the rim of the pan. 
Then by tilting up the pan in the water the top may 
be washed out by a slow motion. When in this po¬ 
sition never let the dirt move or slide in the pan, 
for this will push out the gold, which will be sure 
to be in the, edge of the dirt. Always shake the 
pan to settle the gold with a slight jerk towards 
you; this not only settles the gold, but will keep 
it behind in a bunch. 

When the dirt is washed sufficiently there, will 
be about one teaspoonful of sand left in the pan. 
Take about the same quantity of water in with the 
sand, then tilt up the pan so as to leave the water 
and sand in one edge of the pan, shaking it side¬ 
ways, letting the water flow backward and forward 
over the sand. The gold will gather behind the 
sand, and can be easily seen. Placer gold can most 
always be seen by running the water around in the 
pan, washing the sand from the gold. But fine 
gold, such as will be found in quartz veins, or in a 
trace on a hillside, will never be seen by running 
the water around in the pan, but with the above 



THE GOLD TRACER. 


39 

way the finest gold can be seen, which is often over¬ 
looked, even by experts. 

To tell a man how to become a good panner is a 
hard thing to do; but with an idea a man can soon 
be able to use the pan, and one should always re¬ 
member the old adage of “practice makes perfect.” 

The best way to do, to be sure that you can save 
gold in a pan is to pan in.another pan or tub, sav¬ 
ing the washings, and pan it over again. The 
more gold you have, in the pan at one time the 
harder it will be to save. Never imagine you can 
save all of the gold until you have tried the waste, 
and see if it has been saved or lost. Lots of old 
hands will find that they can’t save all of the gold, 
or havn’t been saving it all in panning. 

Always keep the gold covered with the sand or 
water. If this is neglected while paning, leaving 
the gold bare at times td the atmosphere, the gold 
becomes dry or nearly so in a few seconds, and as 
the water flows back in the pan it will pick up this 
gold on its surface, which will be readily carried 
away and lost, and to avoid this the gold should al¬ 
ways be kept under the sand and as near in a bunch 
as possible. 


CHAPTER V. 


Tracing. 


LL auriferous veins can be found by tracing 
^ the loose gold which wiU always be found 
l^elow the auriferous portion of the vein, scattered 
along down through the loose earth-matter, for 
some distance below the vein on the hillside, which 
has rolled and washed down, after being freed from 
the quartz or other earth matter, and by taking a 
pan-full of this loose earth matter in the mining 
pan and panning it down, or, in other words, con¬ 
centrating it down with the mining pan, the gold 
can be readily seen, and with this system, (see cuts. 
Figures 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 21) of panning the 
loose earth matter the gold is traced back to the 
veins, and to the richest spots in the veins, and 
where veins have only one spot of ore, then he will 
be led to this one particular spot. 

The prospector, equipped with pick, pan an<i 
shovel, with sacks to carry samples in, goes to the 




THE GOLD TRACER. 


41 


place that he wants to prospect. Here he com¬ 
mences to sink small holes, the same as would be 
sunk to set a post in. These holes should be sunk 
to bedrock if convenient, if the loose earth is any¬ 
ways deep, this is not always necessary, but advis¬ 
able at any depth. Out of each of these holes take 
out a panfull of the loose matter, taking an average 
lot from top down to bedrock, and put it in the 
sack, tying it up so as to keep them all separate 
from each other, sinking these holes at short inter 
vals along the. line, and at a short distance below 
the place wanted to be prospected, as will be seen 
in Figures 6, 12 and 22, and by taking out as many 
samples as can be carried handy at one time, tak¬ 
ing them to water, panning them out, watching 
closely in each panful panned, for gold, the shade, 
size and quantity. Going back, getting more sam¬ 
ples and panning them out until the ground is 
prospected or the trace of gold has been found. 

After the surface has been gone over in this way, 
and there is no gold to be found on the hillside, 
then there will be no use for further investigation; 
this portion of the place being prospected. But 
when gold has been found, in one or more of these 
samples, and the prospector wishing to find its 


42 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


source, he should go back to this hole that this 
sample containing gold was from, or if there was 
more than one, go to the one that contained the 
largest quantity of gold, taking this hole for a 
starting point (see black dots i in cuts Eigs. 13, 14, 
15, 16, 17, 21 and 22). 

Now sink two of these holes, one on each side 
of this one, (see black dots 2 and 3 in cuts Eigs. 13, 
14, 15, 16, 17 and 21), square above on the hillside. 
This will leave the three holes in the form of a tri¬ 
angle, with the sharp point pointing .down hill, (as 
will be seen in above mentioned cuts). Taking a 
sample out of these two holes last dug, and panning 
them to see what each one contains, pains should 
be taken so as to not make any mistake in what 
hole each sample was from. The best way to do 
this is to number the sacks that the samples are 
carried in. A mistake made in one sample will 
cause the work to be done over again, and in this, 
as in most everything else, a stitch in time saves 
nine. 

Denote the quantity of gold in each of these two 
pans closely. Going back to the holes that the 
greatest quantity of gold was from, digging two 
more holes above the same as before, and so on, 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


43 


until the vein has been reached. He should be ex¬ 
act in dig-ging these holes, to take samples from, 
as shown in last mentioned cuts, and it will be seen 
that if a line was streched from the vein or the au¬ 
riferous portion of this vein, back to the first hole, 
that it will cover one line of these holes. 

After gold has been found, before attempting to 
trace it up to the vein, the prospector should go 
back to the same hole that the gold was first found 
in, taking a sample out of the topmost soil, and 
another one underneath, and so on down until bed¬ 
rock has been reached, and test each one separate¬ 
ly. This will readily show at what depth the next 
holes will have to be dug in order to reach the 
gold. This will not only show at what depth to 
dig the next holes, but will give him a chance to se¬ 
lect his samples from the richest portions of the 
earth matter, which will be a great help in tracing 
the gold, the more gold there is to be found in a 
trace, the easier it will be to follow. 

Any gold found in the loose earth-matter on the 
hillsides is a trace, although some may be richer 
than others. Some are found to be very fine, and 
only a few particles to the pan, while others are 
found to be several dollars to the pan. Coarse 


44 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


gold is often found in the loose earth-matter, as 
well as fine gold. Coarse gold found in a trace in¬ 
dicates that it has come from a pocket, while fine 
gold comes from all kinds of auriferous rocks, and 
are often followed up to a pocket of coarse gold. 

Traces of gold will be found at all depths of the 
surface ground, being found in the topmost soil at 
times, and then again there will be no gold found 
only on bedrock. Most always the nearer the 
prospector comes towards the vein the deeper 
down the trace will be found in the ground. These 
loose streaks of gold usually have different posi¬ 
tions on the hillsides, very seldom found to be 
straight up and down with the hill. It is a good 
plan to dig these holes closer together as you go 
up the hill. By doing this the prospector cannot 
possibly miss the auriferous spot in the vein. Three 
postholes can be used instead of two, as shown in 
Figure i6. Gold found in most any placer mine 
can be readily traced back to the rocky source from 
which it came, in a very short time. But before 
prospecting for the trace, the prospector should 
gain all the information he could in regard to the 
placer gold. First, as to where the richest spots 
occurred along the stream, (see cut, Figure 22). 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


45 


Second, at what point the stream bed ceased to 
pay, (see cut, Eigure 12). Third, what difference, 
if any, in the value of the gold at different points 
along the stream, or, if there is more than one gold- 
bearing stream, find out as near as possible the val¬ 
ue of the gold in each stream. The difference in 
the fineness of the placer gold and the knowledge 
of each spot that the gold was taken from, will 
show the prospector at what place or places to look 
for the vein or veins. The next step to take will 
be to pan out some of the placer gold at these diff¬ 
erent places along the stream’s bed, and at the head 
of the placer ground^ observing the gold closely 
with a good magnifying glass. There is a great 
deal of important information to be gained by the 
different shades and smoothness of the gold. 
First, if there is more than one source of the gold, 
it will be readily seen in the different shades be¬ 
tween the different particles of gold. Second, the 
distance the gold has traveled after being freed 
from the quartz veins can be told by the brightness 
or darkness of the gold. The brighter or whiter, 
or, in other words, the newer it looks, the closer 
the source; or the deader, darker, or copper col¬ 
ored it looks, the greater distance it has traveled. 


46 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


The roughness of the particles of gold also indicate 
the distance it has traveled, but not so accurately, 
as the size of the stream and the amount of washed 
gravel will have to be taken into consideration. 
Gold being polished smooth in a short distance in 
a large stream, oftentimes it becomes worn smooth 
without moving after being lodged in the stream 
bed, while gold may travel a long distance in a 
smaller stream or gully and not show any signs of 
wear, it being more of a slide than a wash. 

When the veins are close by the real fine gold 
will be found deposited amongst the coarser gold, 
and will be very bright. It will take practice be¬ 
fore the prospector can come to any correct knowl¬ 
edge as to the distance that the gold has traveled, 
but with the idea as to how it is done he will soon 
overcome this. No prospector should leave out 
this important study, for after it is once learned he 
can test the placer along the stream, and by the 
difference in the gold tell the number of veins carry¬ 
ing the gold found in the placer, and what distance 
he will have to go to find each vein. Then by pan- 
ing the loose earth matter close around and at 
short intervals, he soon finds the trace of gold, 
which will be easily traced up to the vein. 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


47 


Three postholes can be used instead of two, and 
will be a great help in some cases. If the vein is a 
long ways off, or a long ways to one side, not be¬ 
ing straight up the hill, by digging three holes at 
a time, and sampling all three separately, if the 
vein should be at any great distance to one side 
he will reach it much sooner and at a point lower 
down the hillside, (see cut, Eigure i6). 

When prospecting for a trace the prospector 
should use his own judgment as to the place that 
would be the most favorable to find mines or pock¬ 
ets. No man can tell where gold lays until after i1 
has been found, as Job once said that gold was 
where you found it, and the only places that I 
could mention as being favorable places is where 
fragments of quartz float can be found, especially 
if they contain gold. Where veins can be seen at 
the surface any place along the hillsides at the head 
of placer ground, in places where the placer has 
been richer in spots along the stream, prospect the 
hillsides at these spots. The gold is often washed 
down from a vein or veins which increases the gold 
at these spots, as will be seen in cut Figure 22. 
Always follow this same system of prospecting. 
Whenever you want to prospect a spot always take 


^8 THE GOLD TRACER. 

a sample of the loose earth matter and pan it clown 
to see what there is. If there is gold, then there is 
something there carrying gold, either at that place 
or above. But if there is no gold, then there will 
be nothing found there. In most all cases gold 
can only be found a short distance below a vein, so 
don’t expect to find gold everytime at any great 
distance below the vein. When prospecting a vein 
always start in lo or 15 feet down the hillsidebelow 
the vein, sampling the loose earth matter along 
this line, (see cuts, Eigures 22 and 6), until its en¬ 
tire length has been tested, the same in testing 
dikes or contacts. It will take time and work to 
find traces, but after once found, the work in get¬ 
ting the vein will be short. 

Auriferous float rock is often picked up, and to 
find the vein the prospector should test the loose 
earth matter with the pan, taking a sample from 
the spot where the fragment of float was picked 
up and one on each side of this one, and three more 
further up the hillside, until the trace has been 
found, it being foimd often some distance above 
the spot that the float was found. The fragments of 
rock rolling down much further than the gold the 
trace of gold in the vein should be followed down- 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


49 


ward by the same system, as following the trace in 
the surface ground, (see cut. Figure 20), in either 
case he is led to the richest portion of the vein. 

While tracing, if the prospector should at any 
time find that there was no difference in the 
amount of gold found in the two last holes tested, 
(see black dots 2 and 3, and 6 and 7, in cuts, Figs. 
13 and 15), it would make no difference which one 
of these two holes he would take for the lower 
point of the triangle in digging the next two holes, 
and at any time in tracing up these loose streaks 
of gold and not able to tell the difference between 
the gold which will always be found at the vein, 
and that which is found below, he should watch the 
amount closely, and when the full amount was not 
found, in the last two samples tested, he should 
drop back, (see black dots, 10 and ii, 12 and 13, 
and 14 and 15, in cut. Figure 13). The full amount 
of gold not being found in 10 and ii, 12 and 13 are 
tested; still not found, 14 and 15 are tested. The 
full amount will be found in one or both of these 
last two tested, and in either case he can see the 
spot the gold is coming from. After the vein has 
been uncovered he should commence at one end 
of the vein, where it has been uncovered, taking 


50 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


samples one after another, until it has all been test¬ 
ed, and he knows the exact spot the gold is from. 
This should never be neglected. So often do we 
hear of someone finding it rich where someone else 
had prospected, and had left it thinking there was 
nothing there. So prospect it well while you are 
prospecting, and you will reap by it in the end. 

If there is no vein to be seen, after it has been un¬ 
covered, then the whole bedrock should be tested 
at this spot. After the gold will be found to be 
coming from other rock as well as quartz veins. 
Often the walls are found to be the richest ore of 
the two. Often there are other veins which can be 
found close by, equally as rich or richer, so the en¬ 
tire surface ground should be tested before it is 
abandoned. 


CHAPTER VI. 


To Uncover Hidden Veins. 


NE of the most important parts of this sys- 
. ^ tern of prospecting will be in the study of 
the different shades of gold. The prospector, in 
following up those loose streaks of gold which will 
always be found scattered below the veins amongst 
the loose earth-matter on the hillsides, will be led 
up to the veins or to the auriferous portions of the 
veins, but when the vein is so situated on the hill¬ 
side, or when there are two auriferous veins, one 
being above the other, on the same hillside, or in 
cases where pockets are being traced up and there 
being several pockets, at different places one above 
the others, (as will be seen in cut, Eigure 21), which 
is often found to be the case, and in cases of this 
kind the prospector will be led astray by simply 
following the gold. He would not know when to 
dig to find the vein. He would be led from one to 
the other, not knowing that he was passing over 




52 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


what he was in search of, and in places he would be 
led up one side of the hill and down the other, and 
for these reasons the study of the different shades 
of gold becomes the most important, most neces¬ 
sary, and most particular part of this system of 
prospecting. 

SHADES OE GOLD. 

The gold has different shades of color at differ-, 
ent intervals from the veins. Gold, after being 
freed from the quartz, gradually changes its color, 
and the first gold freed from the quartz is the gold 
found the greatest distance from the vein, and, as it 
has l)een exposed to the atmosphere the greater 
length of time, it becomes darker, or, in other 
words, it has an older appearance than the gold 
found closer to the vein. Gold found to be dark, 
or copper colored, will gradually change lighter, 
brighter, or newer in appearance as the distance 
grows shorter towards the vein, until it becomes 
so bright that particles will glisten when their posi¬ 
tions are being changed around in the mining pan, 
and will be one evidence that the vein has been 
reached. At this point the prospector will discover 
very fine, whitish gold, apparently heavier than the 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


53 


rest, which will always remain behind the rest of 
the particles of gold, which is also evidence that the 
vein has been reached, as this gold will 

never be found or seen at any other place, 

/riiere is yet ^ another gold which will be 

found to be brighter, at a distance from the 

vein, and as the distance becomes shorter, it will 
he found to have a coating of vein matter over it, 
and will often have to be rubbed or scoured before 
the prospector can tell what it is. But this verv 
fine white gold will always be found when the vein 
has been reached, and should never be passed by. 

About the only way that a new beginner can see 
the different shades of gold will be to save the 
gold from each sample panned as he ascends the 
hillside, keeping each trace by itself. The difference 
can be readily seen. A good way for this is to 
take a pie plate and make small furrows in the bot¬ 
tom of the plate, putting each trace, found in each 
sample, by itself in these furrows. Their difference 
can then be readily seen and studied. 

Before being able to judge by the shades he 
should watch closely the quantity of gold in each 
sampled panned, and when the full amount could not 
be found above he should drop back (see cut, Fig. 


54 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


13),until the full amount is found again, then the 
loose earth-matter should be moved from this spot 
marked thus X in the cuts, and the bedrock careful¬ 
ly investigated by panning. 

Although there is no necessity of going above, 
or passing the ore shoot while tracing, as any one 
ought to be able tO' distinguish the difference be¬ 
tween the appearance of the gold that has been 
found at some distance from the vein and 
the gold found closer by, or at the vein, 
there is as notable a difference between the gold 
as would be in tracking or trailing anything else. 
If we were trailing a man, horse or deer, and he 
had passed along a day or so before we would see 
that his tracks were not fresh, but as we come 
nearer to him we would see that the tracks were 
fresh or newly made. So it is with the gold; no 
matter haw fresh and new it may look, if its source 
is some distance away it will become fresher and 
newer as the distance gets shorter towards it home 
and becomes so bright that it will glisten when its 
home is reached. Note this change carefully with 
the aid of a good magnifying-glass, and you will 
find that in a very short time you will be able to 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


d:> 

tell at what distance you will have to go before 
you reach the vein. 

Pockets, shoots, chimneys, bonanzas or ore 
bodies of any kind have streaks of loose gold whicli 
are always found scattered for some distance below 
its source, being carried downward by ages of rain¬ 
storms and freshets, or, in other words, when the 
vein-stone becomes decomposed or washed up into 
a fine powder, freeing the gold, which was carried 
down hill with the other loose material, which is 
constantly moving downward towards the lower 
levels, and by this explanation the reader will see 
at a glance that this will leave a trace of gold to 
follow, which will lead him up to the auriferous 
portion of the vein. It sometimes happens thai 
fragments of the quartz are found scattered over 
the surface ground, and whenever the prospector 
finds these fragments of quartz he should always 
take a sample of the loose material and test it for 
gold with the pan, as the placer miners do in pros¬ 
pecting for placer gold. They test the alluvions 
by panning in this way all placer mines are found. 
Every stream-bed is tested for the precious metal,, 
unless accidentally found, as was the case when 
Marshall discovered gold in California, on the 19th 


56 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


day of January, 1848, while digging a race for a 
saw-mill. The swift current of the mill race wash¬ 
ed away a considerable body of earth-matter, leav¬ 
ing the coarse particles of gold behind. 

But' in nearly every case, placers have been dis¬ 
covered by miners who were searching for them, 
and who spent much time and labor in the search. 
But most of the rich auriferous lodes have been 
found by men who were not looking for quartz. 
Hunters, travelers, placer miners, road makers and 
others occasionally come (without thinking of it) 
upon valuable veins. 


CHAPTER VIL 


Post Holes. 

OST HOLES are small holes sunk in the 
^ loose earth-matter, a very small hole, the 
same as farmers most generally dig in setting a 
post. The width of the shovel blade will be suffi¬ 
cient in most cases, as the surface ground is shal¬ 
low in most places, and only the loose earth-mat¬ 
ter is tested, but it should be dug down to bedrock 
if convenient. Still it is not always necessary, but 
advisable while prospecting to find a trace, but af¬ 
ter the trace has been found they should be dug- 
down according to the depth of the trace. 

If the trace is found to be in the topmost ground 
then the samples are to be selected from the top 
ground; but when the trace is found to be on bed¬ 
rock then the samples should be taken according¬ 
ly. Hillside, gullies, or, in fact, any place the pros¬ 
pector may wish to prospect, should be tested in 
the same way, (see cuts. Figures 22, 6 and 12). By 




58 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


this system of prospecting the auriferous veins are 
readily found, and the exact length of the ore body 
can be told without even seeing the vein, (see A to 
A, in Figure 22). 


SAMPLES. 

A sample is to be’a panfull of the loose earth- 
matter that is taken out of the post-holes, an av¬ 
erage lot to be taken, while prospecting for the 
trace. But after the trace has been found it 
should be selected from the richest portion of the 
ground. A panfull of vein stone, gravel, or, in 
fact, a panfull of any substance wanting to be test¬ 
ed, makes a sample; these samples should be car¬ 
ried to water and concentrated down with the min¬ 
ing pan until gold can be readily seen. 

SAMPLE SACKS. 

Sample sacks are used to carry the samples in, 
and should be large enough to hold two pansfull of 
loose earth-matter, one sample in each end of the 
sack, with a string tied at the center, and one at 
the end to keep samples separate from each other. 
Sacks the size of a flour sack, or just a common 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


59 


flour sack will do, and makes a handy and conven¬ 
ient pack thrown over the shoulder or across the 
saddle. 


CHAPTER. VIIl. 


Mislead. 

(T^ HERE are so many different ways that a 
prospector can be misled that I cannot pass 
them by here, and it would be wrong for me to 
overlook this important fact. But as I only intend 
this for a handy pocket book. I do not care to dwell 
upon ^ny subject longer than will be necessary for 
to enlighten the reader, and put him upon his 
guard, and in regard to this subject, I will advise 
the reader first, always be sure that the sample- 
sacks are free from gold. Dust them out after 
carrying rich samples in them. Turn them inside 
out and shake them well. Second, always use a 
smooth 1)ottom pan, and be sure to rinse it out 
every time before testing a new sample. Third, 
when panning in a tub, pond or any still standing 
water, where gold has been panned out and scat¬ 
tered around l^efore, be careful or you will be salted 
every time you pan a sample; for this gold, when 




THE GOLD TRACER. 


61 

once it becomes dry, will readily float, or swim on 
top of the water. The gold around the water’s 
edge becomes dry, and when the water raises it 
readily picks up this gold, carrying it around on 
its surface, which will be readily settled by agi¬ 
tating the water, settling in the miner’s pan. 
Fourth, never take any other man’s word as to the 
place or places to prospect. He may not tell you 
the truth, misleading you for self-gain, having some 
object in view. There are some men that want 
ail of the benefits of this earth, with heaven thrown 
in 

Gold is sometimes carried up to the surface by 
gophers, or by the uprooting of trees, here to be¬ 
come scattered around on top of the surface 
ground. This is often the case in places where the 
debris is any-ways deep and sandy, and the pros¬ 
pector should be on the watch as the best of judg¬ 
ment must be used in cases of this kind, in order to 
find the vein. This gold is often carried up from 
the vein, while it may have been carried up from 
the loose gold that has come from the vein. Such 
places are most always marked by the quantity of 
gold in the trace. The trace will lessen or will be 
apparently lost, with the exception of a color or 


62 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


two, that is, a color or two of gold can be found 
scattered around this spot, and the prospector can¬ 
not find any lead, traces or trail to follow, or, in 
other words, these few colors of gold apparently 
have no course to follow. In cases of this kind 
the prospector must drop back and take his sam¬ 
ples from the debris next to the bedrock. Often 
small bunches of the loose earth-matter slips or 
slides down the hill. This breaks the trace in two 
or one end of the trace is carried away by the slide. 
In this case it often takes considerable work in or¬ 
der to find the other end of the trace, as the dis¬ 
tance it has come cannot always be told, nor can 
its direction be told in all cases. Of course if the 
direction can be readily followed back, this will 
save time and labor in finding the other end of the 
trace. In very deep ground, and where the trace 
is at a great depth, the best and quickest way will 
be to run an open cut or a tunnel, following the 
streak of gold, by this same system as would be 
used on top, or in shallow ground. 

Always take these samples as nearly as possible 
in the direction that the loose earth-matter has 
rolled, or washed down from. In testing for the 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


t 


direction, as black dots 2 and 3, in cuts Figures 
[• 14, 15, and 17, which is a test for the direction. 


[. 




CHAPTER IX. 


Gold. 


S OLD, like all other metals, will be found a‘ 
chlorides, sulphides and crystalized, and 
when found in these different states of purity wih 
be easily pulverized into a fine powder, which act 
as sediment when put into water; the water be 
comes cloudy or muddy, and it is very easily carrie'^^ 
away by the water, but when yet in coarse particles^ 
can be easily saved in the pan and traced back tJ^ 
its source the same as the other gold, by taking 
test on the black sand which will be saved in th<^ 
pan while panning, which can be accomplished h 
the use of a few acids and a few small tools. Th<^ 
combination of gold with various oxides and sul^ 
phides of other metals, will be often met with ii 
paying quantities, and the gold, while in with thes5 
other metals can seldom if ever be detected witP 
the naked eye, and the prospector should be equips 
ped to make these tests while in the field, (see gok' 




THE GOLD TRACER. 


65 


test, page 72. This should not be lost sight of, es¬ 
pecially while prospecting around base ledges. 

I Heretofore gold has been found almost exclusive¬ 
ly in the metallic state, the reason for this, I think, 
being on account of its being so readily detected by 
the naked eye. 

Sulphide of gold, in small particles in black and 
1 rich brown color have been found by the writer on 
' Snake River, Idaho, and on Dixie Creek, Oregon; 

( also a chloride of gold along with other chlorides, in 
rich brown, yellow, greenish purple and creamy 
white color, and crystals of gold in different parts 
ff our gold belts, in white crystals, rich yellow and 
)right amber color. Pure gold is seldom if ever 
net with, most always being alloyed with some 
I )ther metal, such as silver, tellurium, iron, platin- 
im, mercury, lead, copper, bismuth, and even tin 
( and others. Gold is being found in all rocks ex- 
:ept the volcanic rock, and found also in the sea- 
vater, about 13 grains to one ton of sea-water. 

Quartz has been called the mother of gold. Cer- 
ainly quartz and gold are found connected to-day, 
ind will go to show where to look for that precious 
netal, gold. “Quartz is an essential constituent 



66 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


of granite, and abounds in rocks of all ages.”— 
Dana. 

' “Quartz, pure silex, generally, impure silicic 
acid, an acid composed of one part silicon and one 
of oxygen.”—Thomson. 

”Or one of silicon and three of oxygen.”—Ber¬ 
zelius. 

An elementary substance in the atmospheric 
air. Rock crystals, flint, and other varieties of 
cpiartz, are nearly pure silicic acid. 

Iron is another associate of gold, and has been 
called the mother of all metals, and gold is seldom 
if ever found with out the presence of iron, and 
often found imbedded in the iron, and even alloyed 
with it. It abounds in every part of the earth. 
It has many different varieties and colors, black, 
brown, greyish yellow, greenish red, etc. 

Crystallization and iron are two of the greatest 
signs of gold, but in so many ways the knowledge 
of this fact becomes useless to the prospector. 
Eirst, every rock is a crystalized rock, all of the dif ¬ 
ferent kinds of quartz, as well as the many differ¬ 
ent kinds of spars, help form nearly if not every 
rock known and, if iron abounds in every part of 
the earth, what light would this throw upon the 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


67 


subject, or how could it help the prospector in his 
search for gold? Besides the debris covers nearly 
all rocks from the prospector's sight, nor is this the 
only evidence that we must have some other sys¬ 
tem to follow, besides studying the different rocks. 
But, as I do not care to weary the reader with 
these facts, I will say, in passing them by, that if 
the gold could only be found in one or two, or 
even in twenty or thirty of these different rocks, 
then the case would be different. But this is not 
the case so the only way to prospect with any suc¬ 
cess will be to test the hills and mountain sides 
with this cheap, simple, quick and only accurate 
system of prospecting, and then nothing can be 
lietween him and success. 

There are so many veins which have rich ore 
only in spots, or streaks, the balance of the vein 
stone is poor, or entirely barren, and as their diff¬ 
erence cannot be detected with the naked eye, 
when once mixed together, it never can be success¬ 
fully sorted again, one portion will be apparently 
as rich as the other, and for this reason the vein 
stone should always be tested while yet standing 
in place, enabling the miner to take out each por¬ 
tion by itself, and never should be neglected in 


68 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


any mine or by any miner, for this will save time 
and money. 

Ofttimes mines are worked several feet in width 
and if properly tested they would find that they 
were working several tons of worthless rock to one 
one ton of pay ore. The expense of treating this 
worthless rock, and the percentage lost from each 
ton milled, which must come out of the valuable 
ore, will cause the richest ore to be too poor to 
work. Take a vein one foot wide, of one hundred 
dollar ore, and if carefully treated about ninety 
per cent, is saved, and would pay a good profit to 
the miner, but take a foot vein of the same ore and 
nine feet more of worthless rock, and what would 
be saved? If ten per cent, were lost in treating- 
each ton, he would save nothing. Many a valua¬ 
ble mine has been condemned by not properly test¬ 
ing the vein stone. The first step should be to 
test the vein stone lengthwise, its width, and up 
and down also, even its walls should be tested, 
which is often found to be rich also. 

It is a notable fact that all the contents of vein¬ 
stone were deposited in the ledge while in solution, 
and the crust of the earth was prepared for its re¬ 
ception by bursting or cracking open, and this so- 


the gold tracer. 69 

lution readily filled r,p these seams or furrows in 
the earth, the metals themselves being carried in 
with the other solution, here to be deposited into 
spots or streaks in the veins during the crystalliza- 
tion of the vein-stone. 

Some claim that crystalization was caused by 
heat, hut this I cannot believe. My reasons are 
many, of which a few I will try and explain to the 
reader. Most certainly it was crystallized by the 
composition of different minerals, and other ele¬ 
mentary substances, as rock forms around soda 
or sulphur springs. The solution from these 
springs form into crystallized rock at the present 
day, without the assistance of heat, nor does any 
of the rocks, outside of lava rock, show any signs 
of being once in a molten mass, not even showing 
any signs of ever being heated, only at the surface, 
in places near some volcanic or lava bed. There is 
no rock in the mineral belts but what will change 
its appearance w'hen heated, e.xcept the lava rock. 
By quaitz alone it can be proved that fire had little 
to do with the forming of the rocks. 

The quartz w'e find in fissures or veins is also 
found m the oldest rocIc.s, the oldest rocks being 
composed of one part quartz, and, according to 


70 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


science, this rock formed the first crust of the earth. 
If so, where did this heat originate from in order 
to form this first rock? As the old darkey once 
said in his sermon, that the first man the Lord 
made he leaned him against the fence to dry, when 
one of the colored brethren yelled out, “Who made 
the fence?” and I ask. Where did this fire originate 
from in order to form the igneous rock before the 
earth’s crust was formed? 

I have prospected and traveled through the min¬ 
eral belts from California through the different 
states to the Canadian line, spending nearly my life 
time in the mountains as a hunter and trapper and 
prospector, and, in my travels I have never seen 
what is called a blow-out except in the volcanoes, 
(or what they call igneous rocks), only the lava 
beds. I have a collection of free gold specimens 
from nearly all kinds of rocks, and I could have had 
others if I could have kept them; but as they were 
easy to crumble I could not keep them in traveling 
around. T do not believe that there is a rock 
amongst the many species but what in some place 
it can be found to be mineral-bearing, except the 
lavas, and I don’t think tlfiat there is one of these 
rocks metaliferous everywhere found. The great- 


THE GOLD TRACER. 71 

est portion of any rock will be found to be barren 
or unproductive, and the simple reason that lava 
rock contains no gold is because it has been melted, 
and experience has taught us that if we melt rock 
the metal is lost unless we use some substance to 
prevent its escaping with the fumes. 


CHAPTER X. 


A Test of Ores—Gold Test. 


ULVERIZE the ore very fine and mix with 



^ three or four times its weight of Caustic Pot¬ 
ash or Caustic of Soda, then heat to a low red heat 
until all the contents cease agitation and becomes 
tranquil. When cool add three or four, times its 
bulk of Hydrochloric or Muriatic Acid after stand¬ 
ing three or four hours in a warm place add about 
one part of Nitric Acid to three parts of the Mur¬ 
iatic, which has already been added(all of this 
should be in a Porcelain dish or a Beaker glass) 
let this stand in a warm place one hour, then add a 
little more Nitric Acid. Stir with a glass rod or 
piece of glass. After standing one hour longer 
add a little more Nitric Acid and warm and filter. 
Rinse the ore with warm water and pour into the 
filter paper. After it has all filtered through pre¬ 
cipitate the gold from the filter with a soluton of 
copperas (Sulphate of Iron) dissolved in rain water. 




THE GOLD TRACER. 


73 

After this has been added let it stand in a warm 
place one hour, then drop in a few more drops, and 
if further precipitation takes place add half 
an ounce of the Sulphate of Iron and let 
remain an hour longer in a warm place. Then 
filter again, rinsing the dish to get all up¬ 
on the filter paper. After all the liquid has 
passed through dry and melt or dry and weigh 
without melting. 

No'single acid will dissolve gold, but Aqua-regia, 
which is made of three parts of Hydrochloric Acid 
and one part of Nitric Acid dissolves it. Gold is 
readily dissolved by any solution producing 
chlorine. Some of the mixtures are Bisulphate of 
Soda, Nitrate of Soda and common salt. Hydro¬ 
chloric Acid and Pottassium Chlorate and bleach¬ 
ing powder. The action is more rapid in hot than 
in cold solutions. If to this solution you add some 
Sulphate of Iron you will get a precipitate which 
is metalic gold, but does not look like it, it being 
in a brown powder, and if melted you get a bead of 
pure gold. 

Another test for gold is to take the solution as 
above obtained and add thereto a solution of 
chloride of tin when you obtain a purple 


74 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


precipitate. This chloride may be purchased 
at any chemists, but may be prepared as 
follows: Take pure tin foil or file a piece 
of tin into powder and heat very hot, (near¬ 
ly to boiling) with strong Hydrochloric Acid in 
a porcelain dish or beaker glass, always keeping- 
tin in the glass or dish by adding tin if necessary. 
When no Hydrogen gas is evolved no bubbles arise 
dilute with four times its bulk of pure water, slight¬ 
ly aciduated with Hyrdochloric Acid and .filter. 
Keep the filtrate in a well stoppered bottle in 
which some tin has been placed. 


Test for Silver. 

Pulverize the ore very fine and weigh out what 
you would want to test. Put it in a test tube and 
add equal parts of Nitric Acid (C. P. strong) and 
water, then gradually warm the test tube over a 
lamp or candle flame, boiling gently until the red 
fumes pass off, (hold the test tube a little slanting 
over the flames and keep from inhaling the fumes) 
allow the ore to settle and filter through a filter 
paper, then add salt water. If a white precipitate 
forms at the bottom silver is present, or a better 



THE GOLD TRACER. 


75 


way is to add some water and take a piece of cop¬ 
per wire, coil up one end and stand it up in the 
liquid and leave it stand half an hour. In either 
case, by pouring off the liquid and drying the pre¬ 
cipitates you can melt into a bead of pure silver 
and weigh the bead, or weigh before melting. 

If there should be copper in the same ore the 
copper will be disolved with the silver, and will be 
deposited upon a strip of polished iron or a knife 
blade, or any iron and can be gathered and melted 
the same as the others or weighed without melt¬ 
ing. 


Gold. 

After the silver and copper has been taken out, 
the same ore that remains can be tested for gold 
by adding three parts salt, one part water and one 
part Nitric Acid. Boil gently from thirty minu¬ 
tes to one hour. Filter and add a few drops of 
Chloride of Tin, a purple precipitate indicates gold, 
or Sulphate of Iron (solution) may be used, which 
will give a brown precipitate. 


Copper. 

Put pulp in a Porcelain cup, add forty drops of 




76 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


Nitric Acid twenty drops of Sulphuric Acid and 
twenty drops of Hydrochloric Acid. Boil until 
white fumes arise, cool and add a little water, filter 
and add a nail or two to the liquid, the copper will 
]:)e precipitated and may be gathered up and weigh¬ 
ed. 


Platinum. 

Platinum is the most refractory metal to test as 
it must be boiled for at least two hours in the mix¬ 
ture of Muriatic and Nitric Acid, known as Aqua- 
regia, a small amount of Alcohol is to be added to 
the solution, and the latter filtered. The platinum 
is precipitated with Ammonia Chlorids. 

Nickel. 

Nickle may be determined as follows: A little 
of the powdered ore taken on the point of a pen 
knife and dissolved in a mixture of ten drops of 
Nitric, and five drops of Muriatic Acid, boil a few 
minutes and add ten or twelve drops of water. A 
small quantity of Eerro-Cyanide of Potash will give 
a whitish green precipitate indicating nickle. 

Copper is a very easy metal to test. First crush 
the ore then dissolve in Nitric Acid by heating, 




THE GOLD TRACER. 


77 


then dilute with water and filter then add a nail or 
two. 

Sulphrid ores are usually difficult to treat and 
should be roasted before testing .for metals. 


The Blow Pipe. 

Every prospector should have a blow pipe and 
its outfit. When in the hands of a skillful operator 
the amount of metal in ore, as well as its nature, 
may be told. The outfit costs merely nothing, 
compared to its value in the testing of ores, and how 
to use it is easy to learn. In many different ways 
besides testing ores this apparatus becomes useful, 
so much so that when once the prospector finds 
out its usefulness he would be lost without one. 


Gold in Pyrites. 

Iron Pyrites, or Copper Pyrites has a color 
somewhat similar to that of gold. These, with 
others, vary in the yellow shades, but by the prac¬ 
ticed eye are instantly detected, and of course by 
washing or rubbing them their difference would be 
plainly seen, as native gold is soft and malleable, 
while these others are brittle and can be easily pul¬ 
verized into a powder. Yet these Pyrites should 




78 


THE GOLD. TRACER. 


always be tested whenever found, for more or less 
gold is most always found associated with them and 
this can only be told by some accurate test. To 
make these tests the ore should be ground up into 
a very fine pulp then roasted and either salt, Caus¬ 
tic of. Soda or Caustic of Potash should be used 
while roasting and kept at a low red heat for one 
hour or longer, but not too hot, then the amount 
weighed out, and the solution added and after all 
particles have subsided filter and add the precipi¬ 
tates. Then filter or evaporate to dryness and 
melt. 


• Chlorination. 

One process is the Chlorine Gas is formed from 
black Oxide of Manganese, Sulphuric Acid and 
common salt. This gas is introduced at the bot¬ 
tom and allowed to permeate the ore. Let stand 
two or three days, then draw off into a tank, use 
water to wash all of the Chlorine from the ore then 
add to this solution zinc shavings, or a solution of 
Sulphate of Iron, let it settle, and draw off the so¬ 
lution, gather the precipitates, dry and melt.. 



THE GOLD TRACER. 


79 


x\ Simple Handy Outfit. 

A simple and handy outfit for the prospector to 
have with him is, first, the different acids required 
to make these tests, then a small quantity of the 
different precipitates, a test tube, blow pipe, two 
porcelain cups, and a filtering apparatus, which 
can be made from a clear beer bottle. This will 
be seen in Figure i8, a few small pieces of 
cliarcoal and a few filter papers, will be sufficient 
to make these tests. 


Greasy. 

To amalgamate rusty or greasy gold, use a solu¬ 
tion of equal parts of Syanide of Potassium, Sal- 
ammonia, Sodium or (common soda) and Oxide of 
Manganese. Add sufficient water to make a weak 
solution, some of this solution should be kept on 
the quicksilver at all times. 


Values of Metals. 


Gallium, a metal-per pound Troy, $39,000.00 

Barium. 975 -^^ 

(,'alcium . 1,800.00 

Cerium . 1,920.00 

Ebrium . 1,680.00 








8o 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


Glucinum . 3,750.00 

Zirconium. 5,400.00 

Lithium . 5,250.00 

V'anaclium. 7,500.00 

Yerl)ium . 3,060.00 

Rubidium . 6,802.00 

Stronitum. 3,150.00 

Yttrium . 3,060.00 

Ruthenium . 1,800.00 

Niodium ... 1,725.00 

Didymium. 2,400.00 

Rodium . 1,725.00 

Palladium . 1,050.00 

Titanium . 515-25 

Osmium . 900.00 

Chromium . 375.00 

Iridium . 817.50 

Molybdenum . 168.75 

Uranium. 675.00 

Thalium . 168.75 

Manganese.A.. 97-50 

Platinum. 136.50 

Pottassium. 48.00 

Trongsten. 86.25 

Alluminum. .45 



























THE GOLD TRACER. 8i 

Antimony . .07^/2 

Bisinuth-criide. 146.25 

Silver. 7.50 

Tin . 13% 

Zinc. .03 

Arsenic. .o7^'^2 

Nickel. - 33 ^^ 









82 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


Values of Gold per CJunce at Different Degrees of 
Eineness. 


Fine 

Dol’rs 

Cents.] 

] Fine 

oPrs 

Cents. 

Fine 

DoPrs 

Cents 



01.03 

50 

I 

03 36 

774 ' 

^ 16 

00.00 

I 


02 07 i 

100 

2 

06 25 

822 

i 7 

00.26 

5 


10.34 

1 500 

10 

33 79 

871 

18 

00.52 

10 


20.67 

1000 

2o 

67.18 

919K 

i 19 

j 00.78 

20 


4^.34 




967 H 

i 20 

I 00.00 


Gold Values. 


S/zC “ 
4C “ 
4^c “ 


one 

ounce 

5 c. 

per 

pwt. 

is 

\$ I 

001 

per oz 

! $i 4 
i 16 

40 per oz 
00 “ “ 

70c 

75c 

(( 

(( 

( ( 

«( 

(i 

14 

1 15 

00 

00 

a 

1 ( 

(( 

16 

80 “ “ 

80c 

a 

U 


i 

00 



19 

20 •' “ 

85c 

i ( 

(i 

* • 

1 17 

00 

i i 

(i 

20 

40 “ “ 

90c 

ti 

< ( 

< ( 

1 18 

00 

i i 

(( 


95c 


<i 


! 

00 

i ( 

li 



lOOC ‘ 

(i 


1 20 

00 


i i 


I ounce pure gold is worth. $20.67^1^8^ 

I pound “ “ “ .248.06 

Composition of Mineral. 


Arsenical Pyrites. 



per cent. 

f Iron. 


t Sulphur. 

. 53 

(Iron. 


• • j Arsenic. 

. 46 

i Sulphur. 


/ 1 ron. 


t Sulphur. 

. 40 

/ Lead . 

. 87 

\ Sulphur. 

. 13 

/ Zinc. 


\ Sulphur. 

. 33 

/ Mercury. 


\ vSulphur. 


' f Silver. 


' ’ ■ \ Sulphur. 

. 13 


Silver Glance, 

















































THE GOLD TRACER 


Schermerits .. 

Smithsonide. . 
Sylvanite. 

Calaverite .... 

Ruby Silver . 
Copper Glance 
Horn Silver.. 
Carbonate ... 

Calamine. 

Stephanyte . .. 

'Diamond. 

Onyx . 

Sapphire. 

Turquoise ,.... 
Meershaum..., 

Garnet. 

Emerald. 


I Sulphur. i6 

) Lead. 12 

1 Silver. 25 

t Bismuth. 47 

f Zinc Oxids. 65 

\ Carbonic Acid. 35 

( Gold. 28 

Tellurium. 56 

( Silver. 16 

( Gold. 44.5 

^Tellurium. - . 55.5 

t Silver. 60 

•\ Antimony. 22 

(Sulphur. 18 

(Copper. 80 

fSulpliur. 20 

I Chlorids. 25 

\ Silver. 75 

(Carbonic Acid. 17 

(Lead Oxids. 83 

{ Silica.. 25 

Zinc Oxide. 67 

Water. 8 

{ Antimony. 16 

Sulphur. 16 

Silver. .. 68 

Carbon. 100 

Silica. 100 

Alumina. 100 

{ Phosphoiic Acid. 33 

Alumina . 47 

Water. 20 

^Silica .. 61 

•< Magnesia . 27 

(Water.. 12 

{ Alumina. 21 

Silica. 36 

Iron. 43 

{ Glucina. 14 

Alumina. 19 

Silica. 67 


























































84 THE GOLD TRACER. 


Mexican Onyx. 

jlyime. 

/Carbonic Acid. 

56 

44 

Topaz . 

f Oxygen. 

J Aluminum. 

] Fluorin. 

35 

30 

20 


tSilocon . 

15 



78 

Amber. 

• • j Oxygen. 

f Hydrogen. 

10.5 

105 

Ruby. - .. . 

r Magnesia . 

i Chromic Acid. 

12 

•. 85 

3 


Gold Alloys. 

Gold alloys readily with most metals, the foiling are some of 
the most common. 


Maleable. 

Color of Alloys. 

Britle. 

Color of Alloys. 

Palladium 

Gray to White 

Rhodium 

Yellow 

Osmium 

Pale Yellow 

Bismuth 

Brass Yellow 

Iridium 

Pale Yellow 

Antimony 

Pale Yellow 

Mangarese 

Gray 

Cobalt 

Dull Yellow 

Copper 

Yellow 

Zinc 

White 

Silver 

Pale Yellow 

Mercury 

White 

Tin 

Pale Yellow 

Nickel 

Brass Yellow 

Iron 

Gray 

Lead 

White 

Platinum 

White 






























CHAPTER XL 


A History of Quartz Mining. 

A sketch of the history of (jiiartz mining in regard 
to the success of some, and the failure of others, 
and the reason that some were successful, while 
others failed, will he a snl)ject worthy of note, as 
some men fall into the same old rut that was fol¬ 
lowed, and found to be a failure by others years 
ago. And to enlighten the miner, or in other 
words, to keep him out of this rut of failure, I have 
selected the first quartz mining in California. 

The first quartz miners in California were Mexi¬ 
cans, who knew how gold-bearing rock was reduc¬ 
ed in their native country as matter of profit. Lie 
only selected the rich pieces to work, throwing- 
aside those portions that would not yield a i)rofit. 
With experience in the observation of quartz and 
a mode of working in which failure was almost im- 
])Os5ible, these Mexicans did very well. 

Their success excited the envy of the Americans, 




86 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


wlio would purchase the claims at a high price and 
tell the Mexicans to see wonders that would be 
done by American enterprise. The common re¬ 
sult was a failure; a large, costly mill was erected, a 
multitude of laborers were employed, they did not 
know how to select the rich rock from the poor 
quartz, the mill was so large that it could not be 
kept going without receiving all the poor, as well 
as the rich rock. 

Mills were built in places where only a little 
pocket of rich quartz had been found and if pay 
rock was abundant, it was not properly selected, 
or if selected the amalgamation was intrusted to a 
man who knew nothing of the business, and the 
gold was lost.. The rich rock, in which the Mexi¬ 
cans had been at work was soon exhausted, the 
creditors who had loaned money for the erection of 
the mills brought suit to foreclose their mortgage, 
and the work stopped, and the people said quartz 
mining was very uncertain business. And so it is 
under that system of management, and that sys¬ 
tem leading to failure has been more or less follow¬ 
ed ever since, and yet in nearly every case, prudent 
and competent management would have secured 
success. Perhaps only on a small scale, because in 


THE GOLD TRACER. 


87 


many instances the quantity of pay rock was spiall. 
The veins should be carefully examined as to the 
richness and quantity of pay rock before mills are 
built. 


REMARKS. 


■ This little book has been written for the first 
' lesson of this new system of prospecting, and as 
soon as this has had time to become understood 
by the prospector, a larger and more complete 
edition will be published, which will treat more 
fully upon this system of prospecting, and mining 
with other valuable information to the mining in¬ 
dustry. 






Surface View—Parallel Veins and Feeders. 




















































































































Small Seams Forming Pockets. 




























































































































































Snifnce View. 













Tig 6 




O' 



?it Rlnplr Dots 









































































































































































Fig 10 




































































































































































































7"i G ^ ^ 









































I 

t 


1 

I 


Fig 16 



; 


System of usiii}^ Three l*ost Holes instead of Two, 


















?/ 9'/I 



Handy Outfit for Prospectors to Test Ore in the Field. 

































TigZZ 



t 


A View of Placer Ground and showing how to test the Vein for the Ore Shoots; samples to 

taken out at Black itots under the line of the vein. 



























HOW TO GET AN ORE TESTING OUTFIT. 


In order that the readers of this book might be 
able to follow out its instructions, and fully profit by 
the information contained herein, we tried to get the 
assayers to put up and offer for sale in this book an 
outfit suitable for the prospector to test ores with, but 
wanting all prospectors and miners to send the samp¬ 
les to them they refused to a man, to do anything in 
that line, or to give any information on the subject- 
It is a well known fact that the poor prospector and 
struggling miner are treated with indifference by the 
assayers* as a rule, and that often it is impossible for 
them to get fair or just treatment in the assaying of 
their ores. 

The wholesale druggists, not desiring to incur the 
illwill of the assayers, refused to put up buch outfits 
or make known to the prospectors and miners at what 
figures they can obtain the necessary material from 
them. 

Not wishing the information contained in this book 
to be of no use to the prospectors and miners who may 
read it, but desiring that all students of this system of 
prospecting and mining may be fully equipped to do 



his work thoroughly and successfully, and thus re¬ 
tain the benefits of his efforts instead of them slipping 
from him to be lost or to enrich another, we have 
made arrangements whereby we can furnish all the 
necessary materials and appliances. 

The appliances are the best to be had, and the chem- 
icles, the purest made. 

Beware of cheap acids, sulphides and chlorides pur¬ 
chased at country town drugstores, as they are almost 
useless for ore testing. 

We will furnish all the necessary materials at the 
lowest market price. 

Complete outfits consisting of one pair of scales, one 
blowpipe, one test tube, one filter, 12 sheets of filter 
paper, one borcelean polling cup, one porcelean evap¬ 
orating dish, a two ounce vial of each of the acidg 
and two ounces of each of the sulphides, chlorides, caus¬ 
tics, etc., will be sent by express, carefully packed, 
and everthing correctly labeled, for ($10.00) ten dol¬ 
lars. 

The liquid acids cannot be sent by mail, but we 
will furnish any of the appliances or dr}^ materials 
post paid for lowest market prices. 

If any articles mentioned in the complete outfit are 
not wanted we will deduct its price from the price of 
the outfit and we will send the rest. 

TALBOT & ADDIS, 

P. O. Box 833. Portland, Oregon. 




I 




raeer 





T?radical ©aide for Tprospeetors and 
3/Ciaers. 


This is the only practical and scietific work on 
the subject ever printed. The author has spent 
most of his life in the mineral bearing mountains, 
and has discovered and tested a new method of 
prospecting, and proved it to be a truly scientific 
method. By following the instructions of this 
book anyone can hunt gold successfully in any or 
all gold producing regions. 

* The book is fully protected by copyright,' all 
rights reserved, and no one else can furnish the in¬ 
formation contained herein. 

In ordering send money by Express Money Or¬ 
der when convenient, as that is the safest cheap 
way of sending money. When Express Money 
Orders cannot be obtained send by Registered 
Letter, as Registered Letters are insured by the 
government to the amount of ten dollars': 

Make all remittances payable and address all 
communications to 

TALBOT & ADDIS, 

P. O. Box 833. Portland, Oregon. 

Price, post paid, anywhere in United States. 
Canada or Mexico, $2.50. 

If you wish the book sent by registered mail 
send ten cents extra. 







